The chupacabra (or chupacabras) is a cryptid said to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated particularly with Puerto Rico (where it was first reported), Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter’s Latin American communities. The name translates literally from the Spanish as “goat sucker”. It comes from the creature’s reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats. Physical descriptions of the creature vary. Sightings began in Puerto Rico in the early 1990s, and have since been reported as far north as Maine, and as far south as Chile. Though some argue that the chupacabras may be real creatures, mainstream scientists and experts generally contend that the chupacabra is a legendary creature, or a type of urban legend. It is supposedly a heavy creature, about the size of a small bear with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.